Paralyzed Words
by CoffeeCupsandStickyNotes
Summary: As Cato faces his death he looks back on his life, and his first true love and all he did to save her. One shot.


A/n: Hey guys! This is my first fic, so please be gentle with me. I know it's not great, but it was stuck in my head and I had to get it out, anyway thanks for reading.

Paralyzed Words

With that slip of a step Cato was falling, fast. He was hurtling towards the ground like an arrow headed towards its target. It was funny, in a way, a bow and arrow was what got him into this mess in the first place, well not a bow and arrow precisely, rather the girl that carried it. As soon as that thought reached his mind, he hit the ground and couldn't help but let out a whine.

The District Two tribute started to get up and run from the danger that now returned to his mind, but found that his legs had lost all feeling in them. Not just his legs, his arms, hands, and every part of his body. Cato opened his eyes, for the first time since falling off of the Cornucopia, in panic. He saw the same setting he had seen moments ago. He sighed in relief, he wasn't dead. With that realization the fear he had just released flooded into his system again. The mutts were still there and from the looks of it, were closing in on him.

He heard a gasp from above. It was shocking how much Cato had enjoyed it. In his mind all he heard was the beautiful girl, now in safety with the love of her life, being concerned for him. She had brought him joy in times that were far from enjoyable. He couldn't stop the warm fuzzy feeling that surged through his entire body. He had been fascinated by her from the very first glimpse of her he had gotten from the tape of the Reaping. Then he saw her on the giant screen in the middle of the Capitol, fire trailing behind her, and he realized how beautiful she was. From then on he knew he was in love with her.

The whole time while training he was showing off, despite his mentor's warnings, trying desperately to impress her. He watched her train with the other boy from her district. He grew nervous that she wouldn't be able to protect herself; all she was doing was learning how to tie knots and other useless things. He decided then to keep an eye on her, just until after the bloodbath, he wasn't going to let this beautiful angel's death go unnoticed among the many others he and his alliances killed the first night.

Everything changed after they received their training score. Cato had received a ten along with his district counterpart. They were tied with a huge boy from district 11 when the district 12 scores flashed across the screen. The male received an eight, which wasn't a bad score, unless you were dealing with Cato and Clove. The girl was next. Her name was Katniss he learned and filed it in his brain so he would remember. The blonde boy's jaw dropped when he saw her score. She had received an eleven out of the twelve possible points. What did she do, name all of the edible plants in Panem? Cato couldn't believe that this girl, Katniss, had scored better than him. He saw that his strategy needed some adjusting.

The sound of panting next to Cato's left ear brought him back into reality. He looked and saw the same eyes he had been looking into for the last two and a half weeks. They seemed to ask him a question he didn't want to answer, didn't even want to think about, but it was too late. He knew she wondered why Cato hadn't come to her rescue. Come and saved her from Thresh. It would have made sense to, but he couldn't get himself to do it. If he had managed to get Thresh away from Clove, then they would have to head after Katniss, and despite all of his instincts his heart told him not to do it. That decision was something that would haunt him for the rest of his life, however short it may be.

The only reason he knew the mutts had started to devour his flesh was because he saw the blood staining the once perfectly green grass. He knew that death was coming, and saying how he felt wouldn't do him any harm now. "Katniss! Katniss! I need to tell you something!" he shouted to her. There was no answer, but Cato decided to continue anyway. "I think you are the prettiest woman to ever walk this earth. I knew this from the first time I saw you. I don't understand it, but when I'm near you all I want to do is be a good person. You make me feel things I didn't think were possible. I could have easily come with Clove and finished you and your sweet little boyfriend off, but I didn't. I don't know why I didn't either. Katniss there is something about the way you carry yourself, like you refuse to do anything on anyone else's terms. We have that in common Katniss" Tears started to gather in the young man's eyes, but this needed to be said. He braced himself before continuing, "I tried to take Peeta out, while we were all up there, not you. I just wanted to be the one holding you right now. Looking back to that now, I could have been a little smoother," he laughed sadly. "I know now that Peeta is what you want, so I am giving up with trying for you, on winning this game, on living. Be happy Katniss, you deserve it. I.." He faltered, but didn't stop. "I love you Katniss." He finished sighing in relief. It was out there all, he had to do now was wait for a response.

Nothing happened

Cato started to speak again when he realized that his mouth hadn't opened at all during his entire speech. He had been talking with his mouth closed. To everyone else it had probably seemed like cries of pain, but in reality he had just confessed his love to the beautiful girl cuddled up in the arms of her true love on top of the Cornucopia. The tears started to flow now. He didn't want to be crying. There were still cameras around. Everyone back home would think he was a failure and a quitter. In reality he had just lost his first and now apparently last love because of these stupid games. He would never know the feeling of holding the girl he loved. He would never father a baby. He would never have the chance to pass on his life experiences or genes. He would never go home. He was going to die alone, as a failure for all of Panem to see.

Looking up he saw someone smiling sadly at him. It was the girl that had made him lose the games, the girl that had consumed all of his thoughts for the last few weeks, the girl that looked as beautiful covered in dirt as she did in a dress with her hair all done up, the girl he loved, the girl he had sacrificed more than she would ever know, the girl that he had chosen over his family, the most courageous girl he had ever seen, the girl that was going to change the world, the girl that he hoped to see again someday, the girl on fire, Katniss Everdeen.

A/n: okay I know it wasn't good, but you should drop a review so I can become a better writter(: please and thank you(:


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